Ask any Star Trek fan what is their least favorite Star Trek movie–specifying that we’re not counting The Next Generation (TNG, for those in the know) and J.J. Abrams’ reboot–and they will undoubtedly say “five,” usually accompanied by a sigh or roll of the eyes. Even Ronald D. Moore (of TNG and Battlestar Galactica fame) said of Star Trek V: “we just don’t talk about it, ever.”
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which was the directorial debut of William Shatner, came at a time of retrenchment for the franchise. Star Trek’s II, III and IV featured a semi-continuous story line in which Kirk et al defeated Khan, stole and blew up the Enterprise, brought Spock back to life, and saved Earth with a time-travelling whale-napping environmental message. At the end of IV, they were given a new Enterprise and an almost-full pardon; the crew then sailed off into the ether in their fancy, sparkling ship.
Where would the franchise go from there? Bruce Springsteen followed up Born to Run with the restrained but brilliant Darkness on the Edge of Town. Star Trek, unfortunately, followed up transporting humpback whales via Klingon Bird of Prey with a crazed Vulcan who kidnapped some ambassadors and set out to find God.
Now, those of who you did not grow up obsessed with Star Trek—and, as a result, likely had an easier time finding dates in high school than those of us who did—may ask yourself, “sure it’s outlandish, but so is Star Trek. Can this movie really be that bad?”
The answer is, yes, yes it can. And it is.
Your next question, of course, will be “but why? Why is it so bad?”
I’m very glad you asked. Some of the problem had to do with the incomprehensible nature of the plot: why did the Federation and Klingons try to rescue their ambassadors but the Romulans didn’t? Why would the Federation send a ship that barely worked (more on this below) staffed by a bunch of 50-somethings on what basically amounted to a commando raid? What is the Great Barrier, and why haven’t we heard about this before?
But most of the problems had to do with the film’s execution. I cannot tell you what happened with the cinematography, script, or directing to make this movie so painful. I can, however, highlight the six moments in the film that were so bad that they—for me at least—ruined the movie, and nearly ended my escapist obsession with Star Trek.
So here they are, in order of appearance.
I should note, I don’t count William Shatner doing amazing and unbelievable feats (climbing a cliff, fighting God) since he was really just preparing for his contemporary persona. Oh, and obviously these probably count as spoilers. [Insert pun about spoiling a bad movie, spoiling a franchise, what have you]
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6 Comments
Valid points, but there are more then 6 moments that make this film bad… shame…
Okay. I’ve written volumes on my distaste for Star Trek V (the only other film I’ve written more about would be Highlander 2). I’m not however going to go off here because what has been said need not be said again.
I personally find the “ROCKET BOOTS” the most offensive element of the film for dozens of reasons but there are hundreds of other unforgivable issues vying for the top spot so its all a matter of degrees.
I’ll add two other quick items to the author’s list that don’t need explanation and they both involve Mr. Scott.
Scotty cracks his skull on a bulkhead with hilarious consequences.
Scotty recovering from splitting his wig when Uhura reveals her feeling for everyone’s favorite chief engineer. Oh my indeed.
This was fun.
Great article.
Seems like I recall the ship wasn’t falling apart, it was still being built. And it was the only ship that could get to the planet in time. Wich is why Kirk gate his address saying that they would make do with what they could and finish the construction of the ship on route to the mission.
thanks, good point. Although were there really no other ships between Earth and Nimbus III? And even if they needed Kirk’s negotiation skills (which they didn’t really use) they could have detailed him to another ship. But fair points.
thanks for your comments. You’re right, there were a lot of other scenes I could have used, it was hard to decide. Overall, though, I enjoy the movie and it pains me to write an article like this. But it must be done.
Final Frontier is certainly not the best Star Trek film and thankfully they gave us Undiscovered Country for a much more fitting conclusion to the original series, but I still find it more watchable than The Motion Picture. And what it lacks in plot, I believe it makes up for in character moments. It shows a level of comfort and comaraderie between the main 7 characters that illustrates they’re not just co-workers, they’re genuine friends. For that reason I will defend the sing-along as a fun scene between Kirk, Spock and Bones that shows the classic clashing of their personalities but also shows that they are true friends. Even little moments like Chekov and Sulu getting lost hiking and Uhura promising them that their secret is safe with her, Scotty telling Kirk he thinks he gave him too much time to ready the ship, Scotty’s jailbreak, Spock and Bones refusing to betray Kirk to Sybok – I find these scenes among others to be fun character moments. I won’t deny the plot is full of holes and many of its greater concepts are ridiculous, but I enjoy this film simply as a lighthearted and fun character piece in which Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov are each given their moments to shine and have some wonderful personal exchanges with each other. And as a very character driven series, at the end of the day that’s what Star Trek is really all about.